Director of Insights Analytics

Job Title: Director, Insights & Analytics – Marketing (Food Industry)

Location: Evanston, Chicago ILL

Department: Marketing

Reports To: VP of Marketing

Company Background:

The most important element of our company background is our purpose.  We are a dairy cooperative of cooperatives.  That means that we exist to create value for our cooperatives and the 14,000 Irish family dairy farms they support.  This is central to how we operate, critically important for our employees and what fuels our ambition to win.

With that, Ornua is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy, exporting to over 110 countries with annualised sales of €3.4 billion.

We are multi-national, operating from 19 subsidiaries worldwide and employing over 2,300 staff. Ornua has teams working in-market across all four corners of the globe from Algiers to Beijing, to Lagos and LA.

The business is structured across two core divisions: Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients.

Ornua Foods owns the iconic Kerrygold brand, as well as the Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner, Forto and BEO Milk Powder brands.

Ornua Ingredients supplies superior quality dairy ingredients to leading global food manufacturers from some of the world’s most technically advanced manufacturing and prepacking facilities located in Africa, China, Ireland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UK and the US.

Ornua Foods North America is headquartered in Evanston, IL with additional teams located throughout the US.  The consumer foods product portfolio is spread across butter, cheese and powders.

The North America division is a powerhouse within Ornua, with an iconic and beloved brand and a highly-engaged, highly inclusive, and high-performing team that, together, have delivered double-digit, profitable growth on the business for the last twenty years. 

Role Summary:

This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a purpose-led organization, lead a high-performing team to drive an iconic brand, and make a difference.

Position Overview:

We are looking for a strategic and commercially minded Director of Insights & Analytics to lead the development of data-driven insights that power business strategy and transformative growth. This role is critical in identifying performance drivers across categories, brands, and channels, making use of a wide variety of data and analytics tools both internal and external. The chosen candidate will partner closely with senior leadership to shape strategic plans, uncover growth opportunities, and guide resource allocation in a fast-paced, consumer-centric food business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Insight Leadership: Leverage syndicated data (e.g., Nielsen, Circana, SPINS) and other databases/data sources (e.g. Kantar, MMM) along with internal performance metrics to uncover actionable insights that inform brand, category, and channel strategies.
• Performance Analysis & Measurement: Identify and explain key drivers of business performance, including market trends, consumer behavior, competitive dynamics, and marketing effectiveness.
• Forecasting & Scenario Planning: Support long-term planning and scenario modeling to guide investment decisions and strategic pivots.
• Research: Partner with Brand and Innovation Leads to architect research plans that deliver effective outcomes in response to targeted business questions and together with Global CMK, establish best practice protocols to guide local team in delivering robust insights that inform critical workstreams.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a strategic partner to senior leaders across Marketing, Sales, Innovation, and Finance to align insights with business priorities and growth initiatives.
• Executive Storytelling: Translate complex data into compelling narratives and strategic recommendations for executive audiences.
• Forecasting & Scenario Planning: Support long-term planning and scenario modeling to guide investment decisions and strategic pivots.
• Capability Building: Champion the use of advanced analytics tools that elevate the organization’s data fluency